Group Fitness = a Fitness Community

 “Throughout our lives we long to love ourselves more deeply and to feel connected with others. Instead, we often contract, fear intimacy, and suffer a bewildering sense of separation. We crave love, and yet we are lonely. Our delusion of being separate from one another, of being apart from all that is around us, gives rise to all of this pain.” -Sharon Salzberg.

You see it in movies and you hear it in songs.  Rejection is hard and people like to feel like they belong to something.  When we build relationships with anyone, whether it is a colleague, a lover or someone you entrust an errand to, you try to find a common language, an emotional interest and a bond that is going to strengthen the connection and lead to a happy result.  Being a part of something gives us value and inspires us to commit.  That is why a fitness class can build a fitness community.

A study conducted by Eric D. Wesselmann of Purdue University et.al. wanted to know just how small a cue could help someone feel connected (“Being Ignored Hurts, Even By a Stranger” – Medicalxpress.com).  In this study, a research assistant walked along a well-populated path, passed a subject and either met that person’s eyes, met that person’s eyes and smiled or looked in the direction of the person’s eyes but passed them “looking at them as if they were air” (Eric D. Wesselmann – Purdue University).  These subjects were immediately interviewed to see how they felt.  The study showed that people who had received eye contact from the research assistant, with or without a smile, felt less disconnected than those who had been ignored (“The Need to Feel Connected” – Neil Wagner – The Atlantic). 

When people say that they are unhappy or that they don’t like something it is usually because they don’t feel a part of it, or they do not understand it.  As a Group Fitness Manager I have found that negative attitudes towards classes come from feelings of isolation; people feel self-conscious, they sense that the regular group know how a class runs, moves and feels and they don’t feel a part of it, or they are singled out because an instructor or a member has noticed they aren’t moving like the rest of the group and the attention makes them feel isolated.  If Group Fitness is inclusive, there is an opportunity to build a fitness community.  Often when someone is new to something they make mistakes and ask a lot of questions.  Successful communities are built on the philosophy that there are no stupid questions.  Often if we play it nice, we inspire a feeling of comfort.  Saying “you’re in my spot!!!!” or “you’re going the wrong way!!!!” isn’t so welcoming…. and if we don't welcome new members how will the community grow?!

To build a community takes sensitivity and observation.  A community can’t be built on exclusion or pin-pointing individuals so that they feel singled out and isolated, yet a common interest must be found!  That is why well-structured classes are the key to building a fitness community.  I look at non-technical dance classes like Sh’bam and realise that by taking the casual approach to how the moves are performed and concentrating on the social aspect of class, people forget the self-conscious feeling of being uncoordinated and just keep moving!  I realise that the reason people prefer to do Pump rather than go into the gym and resistance train is that they can nod approval at their friend and just keep working through a song, and the fatigue they feel is somehow secondary to the experience.  A good instructor obviously taps into this, and can sift through the positive and negative of mass group training to create this sense of community. 

As a Group Fitness leader (for more years than I care to mention!), I have seen a lot of things; I have seen body transformations, coordination improvements, fitness increases and strength improvements.  There has been no greater change as the sense of community built in classes.  People build relationships, find friends… some even find partners!  I strongly believe that we all want to strive for improvement by seeking value from those near and dear to us.  If those we train alongside make us fitter and stronger, is this not a relationship worth cultivating???  Does this sense of belonging not want us to experience it on a regular basis???  Do we not feel like we are a part of something worthwhile???  This is the very thing to make us fitter, better people.  Not only that, we continue to train and stay fit because the training environment makes us happy and we want to be a part of it.